The First Step: You Know You Were Made For More

            Most of us cannot remember our first step. In fact, most of us probably don’t have photographic or video evidence of the moment. I’m not sure I’ve even heard my parents talk about it (that was probably 31 years ago!)

            It’s different for our grandchildren and our friends’ children and our nieces and nephews. In a world of tweeted moments, they’ll have all their milestones put on a Facebook timeline. But, for us, we are lucky if we remember even our first day of kindergarten, let alone our first step.

            When we watch young children take theirs, we do so with a mixture of awe and a little bit of caution, lest they hurt themselves. We’ve been with them nearly every single moment, holding their little fingers to help them stand. It’s a moment of surrender for us to let them go and take that first step.

            That young child, however, takes that step with great excitement and joy -- with an unawareness of the insecurity we have for them -- and so when they do, their face shifts to awe in what they have just done. That child will look to their mother, or father, or whomever is in front of them in that moment for praise. 

            “Look at me!” that gleeful expression says. “I have no idea what I just did, but I did it!”

            I’m not quite sure what happens between that first step and all the other first steps we take in life. At some point, somewhere, we’re given a lot of “no’s” and we hit roadblocks and sometimes we settle and dare not move from where we are. Or, in other cases, we become so content with the plateau of current achievement or success we’ve pulled the blinds on other opportunities. 

            If we’re lucky, we’re given the awareness of another chance. If we’re blessed, someone (and leave it to the one who knows us best) has heard us when we’ve shared our dreams and goals. They don’t hold back when they feel called to remind us of them. 

            “You know you were made for more, so don’t be afraid to move.”

            If we’re listening, we’ll accept the grace of that awareness and embrace that person, or people, with gratitude. In that moment of surrender, we’ll look at them with a much different expression than we looked at our parents all those years ago. 

            We look at them to say, “Will you be with me when I take that first step?” Our insecurities bubble up and our trepidation of the unknown keeps us with one foot on the trail ahead and the other on the inside of our closed (but glass) house. 

            As a woman of faith, I’ve come to believe that God pursues us to take necessary steps in our life. When we’re not listening, He’ll get our attention elsewhere or through someone else. He was with us inside our glasshouse and He’ll be the one to shatter the walls (again and again). So, just like that person who dares you to move (and this time you know you should), He’ll be there.

            Will you be with me when I take that first step?

            Of course they will.

            They’re the ones who said, “You don’t have to be afraid! What are you waiting for? What do you have to lose?”

            ... They’ll be there when we look at them in awe of what we’ve just done, and they’ll give us praise just like our parents did when we took our first step.